Democrat Hayden Rogers, the former chief of staff to retiring Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), raised an impressive $301,000 in the first quarter of this year. Rogers, a conservative Democrat in the mold of Shuler, ended March with $281,000 in cash on hand.

“I have been truly humbled by the support our campaign has received, especially from so many friends across Western North Carolina,” Rogers said in a statement.

Rogers faces a steep uphill battle in North Carolina's 11th district, the most Republican area in the state. In 2008, voters in the district would have voted only 40 percent for Barack Obama. In 2010, Sen. Richard Burr (R) would have gotten 61 percent of the vote in the redrawn district.

Republicans familiar with the race expect real estate investor Mark Meadows, the frontrunner, to be the GOP nominee.